新款MacBook Air是终极商务笔记本吗？

    笔记本全天候续航问题目前仍然无解。除非你使用配备了12芯扩展电池的惠普（HP）笔记本，要不然，要想支撑7小时以上无异于痴人说梦。

    不过，苹果（Apple）刚刚在全球开发者大会上公布的新款MacBook Air有望打破现状。苹果宣称它13英寸和11英寸版Air的续航时间分别可达12小时和9小时，均比上代多了足足4个小时——真是了不起的进步。为了证明自己不是在吹牛，苹果借给了我们一台售价为1,199美元的11英寸Air。它的配置是1.3GHz双核i5处理器、4GB内存和256GB闪存。

    笔记本的外型几乎没有什么变化。对于新用户来说，这没什么问题。因为Air简洁明快的线条、微不足道的2.38磅（约合1080克）重量以及超纤薄的外形即便在三年后的今天来看也丝毫不觉得过时。内部配置则略有升级。此前的单麦克风升级为双麦克风，固态闪存的速度据说也比上一代产品提高了45%。硬件上的最大的变化无疑是处理器，全新的英特尔（Intel）第四代Haswell处理器也登台亮相。

    英特尔表示，Haswell处理器能有效降低能耗，同时大幅提高图形处理能力，却不会影响处理器的整体性能。Air使用了超低功率版Haswell（又称ULT），型号包括1.3GHz双核i5和1.7GHz双核i7等。苹果表示，新款产品的电池尺寸没有变化。得益于新型处理器和其它节能技术的改进，新款Air的续航时间得以大幅延长。

    在一周的时间里，新款11英寸MacBook Air的电池续航时间比老款长得多。老款Air可能运行三个小时就关机了，而今年这款省电型Air在同时运行多个任务的情况下——开了流媒体音乐试听件 Spotify、通过Netflix Instant观看了情景喜剧《发展受阻》（Arrested Development）一集22分钟的剧集，还开着无线网络且调亮了屏幕浏览网页——平均续航时间约为5个半小时。而在情况相对简单的情况下，比如只开着Safari浏览网页，用谷歌（Google）Docs编辑文档，同时将屏幕亮度调至3/4，Air的续航时间可长达8个半小时。

    开启应用程序、切换窗口以及观看高清视频的体验都比之前更顺畅，但小幅的速度提升很多人根本不会注意到。至于英特尔所宣称的Haswell的图形性能更佳？开着一部分花里胡哨的图形功能玩第一人称解谜游戏《传送门2》（Portal 2）是没问题，但假如把这些功能全部开启，那就不行了。换言之，用户倘若将上述设置维持在均衡状态，就可以玩更高级的游戏了。

    试用新款11英寸MacBook Air一周后，我确信，苹果本次硬件升级虽然看起来微不足道，但光凭出色的电池续航时间就足以说服部分用户升级或是首度购买MacBook Air。这款设备在日常使用中并未能实现9小时续航时间，但8.5小时的网页浏览时间跟9小时已经相差无几。虽然我希望苹果能根据买家需要提供更高清屏幕的版本——目前1366×768的分辨率已经感觉开始有点不清晰了——但新款MacBook Air可谓瑕不掩瑜。它到底能不能算是商旅狂人的终极利器？考虑到它仅仅一千美元出头的价格，似乎很难说出个“不”字。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航

    With laptops, all-day battery life remains an elusive, almost mythic, thing. Because unless it's an HP (HPQ) laptop with a protruding 12-cell battery, reaching anywhere north of seven hours of use between charges is near-impossible.

    But the new MacBook Air models, announced at WWDC, are supposed to be exceptions: Apple (AAPL) rates the 13-inch model at 12 hours of battery life and the 11-incher at nine. That's four-plus hours more than before -- a potentially serious improvement. To suss out the claim, Apple loaned us an 11-inch unit stocked with a 1.3GHz dual-core i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of flash storage, a model that sells for $1,199.

    Little has changed on the outside. For newcomers, that should be just fine, since -- let's face it -- the Air's clean lines and 2.38 lb. waif-like frame are still nice to look at, even three years later. Inside, Apple has made small tweaks. There are now two microphones instead of one, and the flash-based storage is supposedly 45% faster. The biggest change in this otherwise minor hardware upgrade is the inclusion of one of Intel's (INTC) fourth-generation Haswell processors.

    With Haswell, Intel promises better energy savings and a serious graphics bump without trading performance. The Air has an ultra-low-power version of the chip, ranging from a 1.3 GHz dual-core i5 to an optional 1.7 GHz dual-core i7, called "ULT." Apple says the battery sizes in this year's models haven't changed. It's the new processor and its improved power-conserving ways that are responsible for better battery life.

    Over the course of a week, the 11-inch Air ran much longer before it needed to be plugged in. While the old Air might run three hours before shutting down, this year's power-sipping model averaged around 5.5 hours under a mix of conditions, like streaming Spotify, watching a 22-minute episode of Arrested Development from Netflix Instant (NFLX), and browsing the web with Wi-Fi on and brightness dialed up. Separately, when we kept things simple -- browsing the web with Safari, writing in Google (GOOG) Docs, brightness dimmed to 3/4 -- the Air managed an impressive 8.5 hours.

    Opening apps, toggling through windows, and watching high-definition video is a smoother experience than before, but the small speed bump isn't one many will notice. As for Intel's claim that Haswell offers better graphics performance? The first-person puzzle game Portal 2 was solid with some of the graphics bells and whistles turned on, but much less so when we tried everything on full throttle. In other words, expect more contemporary games to be playable, provided those settings are kept medium.

    A week with the new 11-inch MacBook Air has convinced me that Apple's hardware upgrade -- minor as it may seem -- will still be enough to convince some to upgrade or buy one for the first time based on excellent battery life alone. It doesn't achieve nine hours between charges with everyday use, but 8.5 hours of web browsing is pretty close. And while I wish Apple would offer a build-to-order option for a higher-resolution screen -- the current 1,366 x 768 resolution is really starting to feel cramped -- it's a small omission on an otherwise excellent device. The ultimate road warrior's notebook? For just over a grand, it's hard to argue otherwise.